Letters from Lulu
A YOUNG AMERICAN WOMAN IN FRANCE, 1927-1928 AND THE LIFE THAT FOLLOWED
Travel alongside an adventurous young Smith College student as she studies in France, explores Europe and North Africa, and records a remarkable year abroad in letters home to her family.
Available on Amazon in hardcover and paperback. See purchase options below.
About the Book
In 1927, Lucelia “Lulu” Taussig, a student at Smith College, left the United States to spend her junior year studying in France. Through the lively letters she sent home, Lulu described her studies in Grenoble and Paris, her friendships, her encounters with French culture, and her travels throughout Europe and North Africa.Nearly a century later, Lulu’s granddaughters, Janet Hockman and Susan Barton, brought these letters together in Letters from Lulu. Enhanced by family photographs, historical context, and reflections on Lulu’s life, the book offers an intimate portrait of an adventurous young woman coming of age during the years between the world wars.Lulu’s experiences abroad helped shape a lifetime of engagement with the wider world. She later devoted more than fifty years to peace activism through the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Her story provides a vivid look at early study abroad, women’s education, family life, travel, and one remarkable woman’s enduring commitment to peace.
Lulu’s Journey
In August 1927, nineteen-year-old Lucelia “Lulu” Taussig left New York to spend her junior year abroad in France through Smith College’s pioneering Junior Year Abroad program. Over the next ten months, she studied, traveled, formed new friendships, and recorded her experiences in letters home.
Journey Highlights
New York to France — August 1927
Lulu sailed from New York aboard the Rochambeau on August 20, 1927, arriving in Le Havre six days later.Geneva, Switzerland — August 1927
Before beginning her studies, Lulu visited Geneva and the League of Nations, an experience that foreshadowed her lifelong interest in international cooperation and peace.Grenoble, France — August to October 1927
Lulu began her year in Grenoble, where she studied French, lived with a local family, explored the surrounding Alps, and adjusted to daily life in France.Paris, France — October 1927 to June 1928
She then moved to Paris, studied at the Sorbonne, lived in Montmartre, visited museums and theaters, and immersed herself in the city’s cultural life.Algeria — Christmas 1927
During the winter holiday, Lulu traveled to Algiers, experiencing North Africa’s architecture, markets, landscapes, and culture.Belgium and the Netherlands — Spring 1928
Her Easter travels included Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, and Amsterdam. She returned to Paris by airplane—an adventurous and unusual experience in 1928.Homeward Bound — Summer 1928
After completing her studies, Lulu continued traveling with her father and sister before returning to the United States, bringing home memories and perspectives that influenced the rest of her life.
Meet Lulu and the Editors
Lucelia “Lulu” Taussig Daldy
Lucelia “Lulu” Taussig Daldy was a member of the Smith College Class of 1929. During the 1927–1928 academic year, she studied in Grenoble and Paris through Smith College’s pioneering Junior Year Abroad program. In lively letters home, Lulu recorded her studies, friendships, travels, and experiences adapting to life in France.Her year abroad helped nurture an enduring interest in international affairs and social justice. Lulu later devoted more than fifty years to peace activism through the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, serving in numerous leadership and public-action roles.
Janet Hockman and Susan Barton, Lulu’s granddaughters and the editors of Letters from Lulu
Janet Hockman discovered and transcribed the letters that became Letters from Lulu. A graduate of the University of Delaware, Janet spent nearly forty years in banking before turning her attention to researching Lulu’s travels, organizing the family archives, and bringing her grandmother’s story to a wider audience.Susan Barton, Janet’s sister, is also a graduate of the University of Delaware, where she spent more than forty years as a faculty member. She led numerous University of Delaware study-abroad programs in Brazil, bringing valuable academic and international experience to the project and helping place Lulu’s journey within the broader history of study abroad.Together, Janet and Susan combined Lulu’s letters with family photographs, historical research, translations, and personal reflections to preserve and share the story of her remarkable year abroad—and the life of service that followed.
Book Clubs
Enhance your reading experience with our complimentary Reader and Book Club Companion Guide, featuring historical context, discussion questions, a map of Lulu's journey and additional background about Lulu's journey.
Purchase
Smith College and a Century of International Education
For more than a century, Smith College has been a leader in international education, giving generations of students the opportunity to immerse themselves in another language and culture. Smith established its Junior Year Abroad program in Paris in 1925.
It was the second JYA program created by an American college or university and the first at a women’s college.
Smith’s Paris program is the longest continuously running American program in Paris, an extraordinary legacy spanning more than a century.
Today, Smith operates its own programs abroad in Paris, Florence, Geneva and Hamburg. Paris remains distinctive: it is the only Smith Program Abroad that requires students to spend the full academic year overseas, preserving the deeply immersive experience at the heart of the original JYA concept.
Lulu Taussig ’29 experienced this pioneering approach to international education firsthand during her junior year in France in 1927–28. Her letters home offer a remarkable window into what studying abroad meant for a young Smith woman at the beginning of this tradition.
From Lulu to Celia (and her 50+ years of peace activism)
Portrait of Celia Daldy by Jo Lipton. Her pin appears to read “PAX,” Latin for peace.
The spirited 19-year-old known as Lulu in these letters later became Celia Daldy, a woman deeply committed to peace and social justice.Celia joined the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in 1947. Her involvement continued for more than fifty years and included writing, editing, organizational leadership, public protest and the preservation of WILPF’s history.Among her many activites, Celia:
Served on national and local WILPF US boards and held several Branch leadership positions
Worked as assistant editor and then editor of WILPF US’s national publication, Four Lights, from 1950 to 1967
Participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations, the 1963 March on Washington, Vietnam-era protests and vigils, and a 1972 sit-in at Senator Hugh Scott’s Philadelphia office
Served as president of the Jane Addams Peace Association and helped preserve WILPF records for the Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Letters from Lulu brings together both sides of her story: Lulu’s youthful discovery of a wider world and Celia’s lifelong determination to help make that world more peaceful.
Giving Back
In recognition of the two institutions that shaped Lulu and Celia’s story, Janet Hockman and Susan Barton are donating 25% of the book’s profits to support international study at Smith College and 25% to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom US.
Preserving the Record at the Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Celia understood the importance of preserving WILPF US's history. She helped organize its historical records and select materials for transfer to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. She also drafted a history of WILPF’s U.S. Section and compiled chronologies of its publications.The Peace Collection was established in the early 1930s with books, papers and other materials donated by WILPF co-founder Jane Addams. Today, it preserves an extraordinary record of the individuals and organizations that have worked for peace, social justice and international cooperation.Its extensive WILPF US holdings provide an important resource for continuing to uncover Celia’s role in the organization and placing her work within the wider history of the peace movement.
UPCOMING EVENTS
August 27, 2026 — Swarthmore College Peace CollectionResearch visit exploring archival materials related to Celia Daldy’s decades of work with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.October 20, 2026 — Smith College, Northampton, MassachusettsLetters from Lulu featured as part of Smith College’s Global Books programming, celebrating Lulu’s 1927–1928 Junior Year Abroad in France and the continuing legacy of international study at Smith.November 18, 2026 — Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (8:00 PM Eastern · Online via Zoom)A virtual presentation for WILPF’s Jane Addams Branch exploring Lulu’s transformation from Smith student and adventurous young traveler to longtime peace activist.
Contact
For book club discussions, event inquiries or questions, contact Janet Hockman and/or Susan Barton [email protected]